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By Chad Finn, Globe Staff

The men's race is officially underway, with the 1-mile split at 4 minutes and 51 seconds pace. The women have passed the 6-mile mark, with a split of 5:58, while Canada's Joshua Cassidy leads the elite race at 37:40 through 13 miles.

The heat, of course, is a major concern. When the elite men departed Hopkinton, the temperature was 73 degrees, up from 68 at the start of the wheelchair race.

Some familiar faces are missing from last year's race. American Ryan Hall, who finished fourth a year ago, is not here. Neither is Kara Goucher, who finished fifth among women a year ago, or runner-up Desiree Davila.

Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya, who set a course record last year (2:03:02), is here to defend his victory. One American to watch is Nicholas Arciniaga, who is running Boston for the second time.

Ty Velde is a 16-time Boston qualifier who's completed 12 consecutive Boston Marathons and 25 marathons overall. Ty is now training for his 13th Boston run and will provide training tips for those who train solo and outside, no matter what temperature it is.

Rich 'Shifter' Horgan is a 19-time Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge team member who runs in honor of his father, who died of colon cancer. He will provide updates on local running events with a focus on the charitable organizations that provide Boston Marathon entries for their organization's fund raising purposes